(1) Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to a sliding assembly consisting of a ceramic member and a metallic member, and the invention particularly relates to a metallic slide member to slide relative to a ceramic member. More particularly, the invention relates to a metallic slide member which transfers its metal to a ceramic member during sliding and exhibits wear resistance by the formation of a metallic coat lubricating layer on the ceramic member without necessitating a surface treatment such as coating, and which preferably contains one or more kinds of alloying elements consisting of Mo, Co, Ti and W in not less than a specific amount.
(2) Related Art Statement:
Ceramics having excellent wear resistance have widely been used as slide members. However, when a ceramic slide member is used, wear of a metallic slide member to slide relative to the ceramic slide member becomes greater. For this reason, in order to improve wear resistance of surfaces of the metallic slide members, the surfaces have been coated by a plasma-sprayed layer or a hard phase has been included in the metal surface layer. For instance, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 62-13,820 discloses that wear resistance of a metallic member to slide relative to silicon nitride, sialon, partially stabilized zirconia, or silicon carbide is improved by coating the metallic member with a mixture of Cu and LiF.
Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 59-9,148 discloses a slide member made of a super hard sintered alloy in which a hard phase made of WC is bonded with a binder phase of Co.
However, the former coating method has a disadvantage that the coated layer is likely to peel when it is too thick, while it has a short durable life when it is too thin. On the other hand, the latter sintered alloy has a disadvantage that it is difficult to produce and process and a producing cost is high.